


To Reap What You Saw

by s0ya



Series: Across the Multiverse [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Cassandra Cain is Black Bat, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dimension Travel, Dubious Science, Duke Thomas is Signal, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Human Experimentation, M/M, Metahuman Characters, Metahumans, Multi, Multiverse, Mystery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Red Hood is Jason Todd, Red Robin is Tim Drake, Robin is Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Talia Is Not Talia From Harbinger Of, Talia al Ghul is Not a Rapist, Talia is Not Having a Good Time, Warnings in the notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27846466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s0ya/pseuds/s0ya
Summary: All Talia knew, for so long, she was caged. Held captive, strapped down, drugged out of her mind, with no idea how long she’s been here.Until, one day. It all clears up. She can move. She can escape.But,who helped me?
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain - Relationship, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Duke Thomas & Damian Wayne, Original Rogues, Original Villians - Relationship, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Stephanie Brown - Relationship, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, more will be added - Relationship
Series: Across the Multiverse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038342
Kudos: 5





	To Reap What You Saw

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there ;))
> 
> Warnings! Non-graphic descriptions of gore, non-graphic descriptions of blood, strong language, sorta graphic descriptions of panic attacks, mentions of weapons, overuse of italics again, and shitty grammar galore!

**PAIN EXPLODED IN TALIA'S FOREARMS,** her head felt as if it was being split open. Her tongue was swamped with a metallic, bitter taste ( _blood?_ ). She could feel herself collide against something glass-like, reinforced by some sort of metal lining. The skin on her forearms was undoubtedly broken, with small pieces of glass embedded in her flesh.

Black dots filled her vision, her ears filled with cotton as she could barely make out any noise. However, she could feel her body lurch downward, after crashing into what Talia believed was a screen or something. Talia kept her form, her knees pulled up to her face, her arms covering her head, her head tucked between her knees and arms. She braced herself for the inevitable impact of the ground.

Except. _Except._

Strong, frantic arms caught Talia's ball-shaped body. She could feel them press her against their broad chest, her cotton filled ears could make out their spiked heartbeat. _They were warm._ Talia let out a shuddered breath. _When was the last time she was ever this warm?_ All she ever remembered was the prickling sensation of sterile, metal instruments, a thin garment that provided little warmth for her body.

Talia could feel whoever was holding her shout— _at others?—_ she could feel the slight vibrations of the ground, the muffled footsteps of various people. She could feel, whoever was holding her, starting to move. Their body was undoubtedly covered in some sort of thin, flexible material, but it was still so _warm._ With what little strength Talia had left, she lifted one of her arms, grasping this person's shoulder. Her hand clamped down, slightly trembling, as she held on for dear life.

Her brain could barely form coherent thoughts, but this deep need— _this want—_ of holding on and _never letting go_ seemed to override any other instinct. This deep-seated fear, that, if she let go, this newfound _warmth_ , this sense of _security,_ would vanish in a blink of an eye. Talia's gut lurched at the thought, as her fear began to be overridden with _anger._ Like _fucking hell_ was she going to let herself become caged, strapped down, poked, and prodded any longer. _Like hell,_ she'd let herself become weak and powerless.

_Like-fucking-hell._

But, fatigue weighed her bones down like lead. Her anger only added to her growing tiredness. Above all, she was so, _so damn tired._

Before long, she felt her body be moved, hands that felt like they were covered, maneuvered her into a laid down position. A spike of fear went through Talia. _Not again. Never again._

She tried to protest, her arms flailing, trying to push back against whoever carried her here. She tried to say _Stop!_ and _Let me go!_ but all that came out were gurgled, pathetic version of those phrases. Her tongue felt like sandpaper, her jaw and lips felt like lead, unwilling to move. She tried to get up, but a pair of hands softly gripped her shoulders and pushed her down.

Her eyes could barely make out any discernible shapes, all she saw were blobs of color, their shape twisting, contorting. Everything was fuzzy, occasionally blotted by black dots. Soon, another pair of hands, ones considerably smaller (from what Talia could tell) also held her down.

A cool, thin, metal-like bracelet encompassed Talia's wrist. When she tried to move her hand, she found she could barely move them a couple of inches. Her eyes widen, with her vision beginning to blur even more (with tears, but Talia doesn't know that). She could feel her other wrist become restrained by what she assumed were handcuffs. Her heart seized, as her gut dropped down to the Earth's core. _Oh God no. No, no, no, no, NONONO—_

Unbeknownst to Talia, tears began to roll down her cheeks, her mouth spewing various pleas in a mixture of Arabic, Chinese, and even Korean. She weakly fought against her restraints, as sobs racked through her body. She wanted _out._

She could barely hear any of the voices now, her cotton filled ears now beginning to ring. Talia cried harder. " _Amma! Appa! Dàjiě! Saeiduni!_ "

Her heart hammered against her rib cage, as she tugged and pulled against her restraints. Her tears flowed free, as a string of barely comprehensible pleas for help passed through her lips. Talia remembered feeling restrained. She remembered as the metal dug into her wrist, chafing her skin. She remembered being unable to do _anything._ She just laid (or sat?) there, not being able to lift a _finger,_ her body weighing a million tons, as fear and anger simmered throughout her body. _Fear_ for what will happen, and _anger_ for not being able to do a single _damn_ thing about it.

Suddenly, Talia could feel her body grow heavier, and heavier, and heavier...

Her ringing, cotton filled ears soon began to fuzz. Any sounds she could (barely) hear before now were slowly being subdued. Any little strength and fight in Talia began to dwindle. She bit the tip of her tongue, not wanting to whimper at the thought of losing her newfound, semi-consciousness. Being in a state of _barely_ _awake_ was never fun. _Ever._

A large, calloused hand runs through Talia's course, knotted hair. She could faintly make out them saying something, probably trying to comfort her. _Trying_ being the keyword.

But. _But._

It did feel nice. So, _so god damn nice._ Talia, who was hanging on a thread of consciousness, felt her heart slightly flutter at the thought of human contact. All she ever felt for so long were gloved, cold hands. So, against her better instinct, Talia leaned into the hand. She let herself relax, letting go of some of her fear, but, her tears still rolled down her cheeks.

Before long, her last hold on her consciousness slipped away. The familiar feeling of slipping into a drug-induced sleep washed over her. She _hates_ it. But, _damn_ does a large, warm hand, running through her hair make falling into unconsciousness _slightly_ better.

_Fuck the universe._ Talia thought, before finally succumbing to the darkness.

* * *

**THE ONCE DARK,** and silent world began to break down. It's walls slowly crumbled around her, as muffled sounds soon began to flood Talia's ears. Her vision—which was once fuzzed and blotted with black dots—now slowly cleared up.

From Talia's vantage point, which was on some sort of bed— _a medical cot?—_ she could make out silhouettes of black and blue. She could see a large screen, likely the one she crashed into earlier (Talia cringed at the thought), was now up and running. Any damage that was previously on the blaring screen was now nonexistent. Talia couldn't make out what exactly the screen displayed, it's light way too bright for her sensitive eyes, and the screen being several feet from where Talia laid. The black and blue silhouette was hunched over, over what Talia guessed was a control panel of some sort, typing away.

Talia blinked several times, her eyes still trying to adjust to the light of the— _room? Evil, bastard basement lair??? What exactly_ ** _is_** _this place?_

Talia sighed, letting her once rigid muscles relax. The muffled sounds she initially heard began to slowly clear up, little by little. She could hear the constant _beep, beep, beep,_ of a heart monitor (likely her's). She could hear the rapid, but light _clicks_ and _taps_ of the keyboard. There were other sounds, but Talia couldn't make out what exactly they were. Her once fear and anger addled state diminished, now being replaced with a strange sense of comfort ( _wow, this bed or cot or whatever it's called is pretty damn comfortable. And also gigantic as all hell, the fuck?_ ) but unease and confusion bubbled up.

Last Talia remembered, was her crying, her mouth spewing out a string of barely comprehensible pleas and cries of help in various languages. Talia _cringed._ The fact she was so open and _vulnerable_ to these people (whoever they were) was _deeply weird._ She didn't _know_ them and their first impression of her was her _crying for her mommy,_ and, her _barreling out of some sort of portal_ right into _their gigantic ass computer, oh hell I wanna run away. What the fuck, universe._

If Talia could move her arms— _which were still restrained, god damn it—_ she would've covered her warm face. Sure, she just happened to escape out of some mad scientist's evil, bastard, lab that she was being held in (against her will, _thankyoueverymuch_ ), while being experimented in who knows in _what_ way.

But, _but!_

Crying while blabbering in various languages in front of people she knew _nothing_ of, made Talia apologize for all of _that_ , rip her ever _bleeding, beating heart_ out, and also run away. Not necessarily in that particular order.

But, pushing her utter embarrassment aside, Talia wondered, _where the fuck am I, exactly?_

Her eyes veered towards her restrained hands. She was handcuffed to the bed, that much was obvious. Trailing up her arm, she saw that they (whoever the _fuck_ they were) hooked her up to an IV. Talia blanched. Her mouth instantly going dry. She could hear the heart monitors beeping slightly _increasing_ in speed. Her eyes shot up at the IV bag. It's contents were a clear solution, likely saline or something of the sort.

Talia swallowed, her mouth painfully dry. _It's probably saline. Probably. Oh god, I hope it's saline._

Talia shook her head, stamping down the fear growing in her gut. These people, whoever they were, didn't have any _reason_ to pump her with a cocktail of sedatives or some other chemical solution. Talia racked her brain for _any_ reason why these people would use her as a guinea pig for their devious experiments. Then again, the last person she thought didn't have any reason to experiment on her, _did so anyway._ Talia, reasonably, _couldn't_ cross off the expectation that these people (whoever they might be) would experiment on her. Call her paranoid or whatever, but Talia didn't _need_ to lower her guard in any way, shape, or form.

_Amma always said that fear keeps you alive. Well, depending on the circumstances, but still._ Talia pursed her lips, still examining her surroundings.

Her hearing had finally cleared up, her vision _leagues_ better than how it was before. She kept her eyes on the man ( _formerly the black and blue silhouette_ ), clad in some sort of black and blue _costume? Uniform??_ as he continued to type away on the large computer's keyboard. He didn't seem to have notice Talia waking up, too occupied with whatever he was writing on the computer.

Talia squinted her eyes. _Huh. No idea why, but his costume-uniform-thingy looks really familiar. Also, damn, what a fine ass he has._ Internally, Talia whistled at the sight. Even though her sight was not at its best, she knows when she sees a fine ass.

Her eyes continue to examine the man, clad in black and blue. His suit ( _yeah, suit_ ) was certainly skin tight. The suit seemed to just be another layer of skin for the man, considering how the suit clearly highlighted the man's physique ( _damn, those muscles though_ ). On his back, were two black rods, with blue stripes at the tip. Talia tilted her head, her eyes narrowed. _They look like Escrima sticks or something, and also really fucking familiar. I swear, I'm pretty sure I've seen those sticks from somewhere, but_ ** _where?_**

It was on the tip of her tongue, just barely escaping her grasp. She's seen that black and blue suit before, she's seen those Escrima sticks with blue stripes _fuck_ she's seen it all before! _But what?_ Flashes of pictures, clips, and various images filter through Talia's eyes. She zeros in on the man's suit, the blue stripe on his back dips down before meeting, forming a wide V shape. Her eyebrows scrunched together, as she chewed on her chapped bottom lip. _Fuck, seriously, where do I know this suit from?_

Talia, being so engrossed in her own musings did not realize that the man clad in the skintight suit had just finished typing on the large computer. Said man, also seemed to have realized that Talia had awoken, and had a look of deep concentration on her face. Her eyebrows scrunched together, her nose slightly flared, her heterochromatic eyes staring down at her bed. She was slightly hunched over, the medical gown on her seemed to be three sizes too big for her. Before Talia and the man clad in black and blue realized both were aware of each other's existence, the basement-lair-thingy ( _seriously where the hell am I?_ ), the loud revving, the screech of tires snapped them out of their trance.

Talia's eyes shot towards where the sound was coming from, but, she couldn't see the vehicle creating all the noise. Talia froze. _Fuck._

Now that she was awake, she'll have to deal with whatever situation she ended up in. Not to mention the utterly embarrassing memory of her wailing like a baby much earlier. She could feel her face heat up at the memory. Dread from the past memory and the knowledge that she'll have to figure exactly who these people were and where she was. _Ah, god-fucking-damn it._ Talia wanted to sue God for emotional distress. If her hands were free, she would've buried herself in the medical cot she was currently in.

The heart monitor beside her bed was slowly picking up its pace. Talia could feel her heart hammer against her rib cage, her shoulder hunched together, her back slouched as she tried to make herself smaller than how she already was. She didn't want to give any reason to these people that she was a potential threat ( _honestly, I'm not. Hell, they even restrained me to the bed._ ). She sat there, her hands slightly trembling, as her eyes were wide as saucers.

She watched at the man clad in blue and black, whip his head towards where all the noise was coming from. She could see the domino mask on his face, the mop of black hair slightly tousled, his slightly tanned face. Even with a mask on, the man looked _really fucking hot, what the hell?_

The front part of his suit was now in better view, and what Talia could tell, there was a sort of bird insignia on his chest. The blue stripe she saw on his back was connected to this insignia on his chest.

Talia's face scrunched up, her heart beating hard against her eardrums. The suit was skintight and looked rather light, meaning this man liked something that was light to accommodate his fighting style. The black and blue were striking but could still help blend into the darkness. Not to mention, that bird insignia is rather eye-catching and _devastatingly_ familiar—

Talia's heart seized. Her entire body stilled as if someone poured ice-cold water on her body. _Oh. OH._

It dawned on her, that this man, wearing the iconic black and blue skintight suit, with that blue bird insignia proudly displayed on his chest. It hit her like an unexpectedly strong punch from the skinny, probably 70-pound kid that lived down the street.

" _Nightwing?_ " Talia whispered to herself, her mouth suddenly filled with cotton. Her heart drummed against her ears, as the implication that this man— _Nightwing—_ was in front of her, just several feet away.

If this man was Nightwing (which he _definitely_ is), then that would mean...

"...I'm in fucking _Gotham?!_ " She blurted out, completely forgetting that the rests of the _fucking Bats_ are slowly trickling into the _fucking BAT CAVE! I'M IN THE BAT CAVE! I, I, I CRASHED INTO BATMAN'S REALLY ADVANCED AND REALLY EXPENSIVE COMPUTER! Oh god, oh my fucking god?! What, what am—how did this happen—why—_

It seemed with every breath Talia took her heart rate quicken. Her eyes stung with salty tears threatening to spill out. With every breath, it seemed she couldn't get enough _air._ She harshly tugged at her restraints, as she was gasping for air she _just couldn't get._ Everything seemed to have crashed down on her. It was bad enough she was held in some sort of lab, being experimented on in who knows _what_ way but, _but to be in a whole new world? In fucking_ ** _Gotham?!_**

Talia desperately hoped this was a nightmare. That, when she finally woke up, everything would be _leagues_ better than _this shit storm._ To be somewhere her family was, where they could _find_ her and _recuse_ her. To _just be there for her._ But no. _They aren't here. THEY ARE NOT HERE!_

A set of hands grasped Talia's shoulders, bringing her back to reality. She was still gasping for air, as her tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Hey, _hey!_ Kid, _breathe with me,_ okay? Breath in, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Breath out, I, 2, 3, 4, 5. In... 2, 3, 4, 5. Out... 2, 3, 4, 5." The man's voice was deep and soothing. His grip was firm but still soft, as he continued his mantra of numbers.

Slowly, but surely enough, Talia was able to calm her frantic heartbeat and breathing. Her eyes were still blurry with tears, but Talia felt herself relax a little. Hyperventilating and crying won't help in this situation, so she focuses on the man's voice, keeping her breathing steady and calm. _Get a grip,_ she barked to herself. _Get a damn grip._

When Talia finally steadies her breathing and heart rate, she could feel the man's hand slip away from her shoulders. A part of her whined after the loss of human contact, another simply scowled and told her to _wake up_.

Talia blinked several times, trying to clear her blurry vision since her hands were still restrained. She took in a deep breath, her eyes sweeping across the _many more people_ present. Talia wanted to die, right then and there. She had just broken down, _again._ In front of, so, _so many people, oh my fuck._

She bit her cheek, stamping down the wave of mortification at the prospect of her, again, _wailing like a fucking baby,_ in front of so many people.

Talia could revisit the unbridled terror and sadness of the fact that she, Talia, _is in the DC-fucking-universe._ Another time, she concluded to herself ( _no matter how much she wanted to fight God_ ).

She gulped down, taking notice of the fact that, _basically the entire Bat Clan was here,_ aside from a couple of people. She took note of Nightwing (the very person that made Talia realized she wasn't exactly in her home _universe, for fuck sake_ ), Red Hood ( _guess he's in better contact with the Bats now, which is nice_ ), _Red_ Robin (Talia cringed, both for the name and the fact that _that storyline_ happened), Batgirl (formerly Spoiler and teen pregnancy statistic), Robin ( _oh shit, is Damian that small?? Damn, that's cute before you realize he could straight-up murder you if not for the family_ ) and—

Talia's mouth was full of cotton. Her eyes zeroed in on the brooding, looming figure behind Robin. His iconic cowl, with the pointed ears, the vanta black cape, the broad and tall frame of _motherfucking_ ** _Batman._**

Talia wanted a shovel and a place to dig. She wanted to fling herself into a grave and _die._ It's one thing to read and watch Batman in comics, shows, games and etc but it's a _whole new deal_ when you see him _in real fucking life._

Talia has experience with physically imposing people (read: her 198 centimeters tall, broad-shouldered, _mother_ ). Most women in her family were physically imposing, her eldest sister is 191 centimeters, and her other sisters reaching 182 centimeters. All, very imposing and physically intimidating. But. _But._

 _This?_ This is a whole new ball game that Talia has _no experience_ whatsoever in. She'll lose. She's _losing._

If a convenient boulder were to drop on Talia, she'd _thank_ the damn thing.

Talia gulped, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her hands gripping the bedsheets, undoubtedly wrinkling the sheets. She stared, wide-eyed at the assortment of Kevlar, bat (and bird) themed, wearing _vigilantes. Oh god, vigilantes exist. And so do aliens. And human clones. Oh fuck. I'm going to have a heart attack. What the shit._

Talia dug her nails in her sweaty palms, dragging herself out of another trance. She could ponder the fact that _aliens_ and the like _exist now._ Another time, _another-fucking-time._

She and the various vigilantes stared at each other, neither side willing to say the first word after Talia's panic attack. Each side assessing the other with much vigor and scrutiny.

A part of Talia wanted this to end, for someone to say _something._ The silence and judging eyes slowly manifested hands to strangle her into sheer awkwardness. So, her mouth acted before her brain could decide the next course of action.

"Sorry for crashing into your computer, Mr. Wayne."

A beat of silence.

Talia wanted to slap herself. First, she apologized at the _shittest_ time. Two, _she just alerted them of the fact she knows their identities. Fuck._

She closed her eyes, and in a resigned voice muttered, " _Ya Allah, fucking kill me already._ "

Some started to laugh, and Talia dramatically flopped into the medical cot. If only her hands were free, she would've covered her face and probably ( _definitely_ ) slapped herself at the sheer stupidity. _End me._


End file.
